A New Start: Retired Stock Broker Enrolls at LIU Post, Plans to Embark on Second Career

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Brookville, N.Y. -- Christopher Bates started college as a criminal justice major at CUNY in the late 1970s, but never finished his degree. His circumstances changed and he found himself working on Wall Street – the beginning of a successful 24-year career.

Bates retired from the stock market in 2004. He pursued independent trading for a few years, but decided to embark on a second career in the regulatory and law-enforcement side of the stock market. And that meant finishing his criminal justice bachelor’s degree.

So Bates enrolled at LIU Post, where adult learners are welcomed.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to complete what I started,” said Bates, 56. “The decision to come back to college has opened so many doors in my life.”

Bates has even lent his own expertise to LIU Post. He has been a guest lecturer in economics classes and taken adult students in the Hutton House Lectures personal enrichment program for tours of the New York Stock Exchange.

Bates plans to finish his bachelor’s degree in May 2013, then pursue a graduate degree.

LIU Post has launched a new program specifically for adults on Long Island who never completed bachelor’s degrees.

The Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program for Adults – which offers the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with professional tracks in Business or Health Care Administration – provides a combination of online and in-classroom study in short, eight- and six-week semesters.

Designed for adult learners who are returning to college after a long absence, the 64-credit program can be completed in two years or less. Students take classes online and on the university’s suburban campus in Brookville. Tuition scholarships, financial aid and payment plans are available for eligible students.
“More than a million Long Islanders have an associate’s degree or some college credit but not a bachelor’s degree,” said Dr. Lisa Braverman, associate provost for adult programs and outreach. “Many adults in their 40s and 50s decided early in life to put college on hold to start a family, join the workforce or even travel. Our goal is to help these students seamlessly transition back to college so that they may advance or change their career, improve their earning potential and fulfill the personal goal of earning a bachelor’s degree.”